Judge Almeric Leander Christian, a giant in the judicial system of the Virgin Islands, died Wednesday morning in a Puerto Rico hospital.
Christian, 79, a native of St. Croix, was the first Virgin Islander to be appointed to the federal District Court of the Virgin Islands and had a tremendous impact on the territory's legal and judicial history. He had been in failing health in recent years.
Almeric Christian attended elementary and high school in Christiansted and went on to graduate from Columbia Law School in New York City after a stint in the Army during World War II.
After returning to St. Croix to establish a private law practice, Christian was appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954 to serve on a seven-member commission charged with determining which federal laws should be applicable to the Virgin Islands.
In 1962 President John F. Kennedy appointed Christian as U.S. attorney for the Virgin Islands. President Lyndon B. Johnson reappointed him to the post in 1966.
He continued in that position until 1969 when President Richard Nixon appointed him to the District Court bench. He was named chief judge of the District Court in 1970 and remained in that powerful and prestigious position until he retired in 1988.
From 1990 to 1993 Christian served as a senior sitting judge for the Territorial Court of the Virgin Islands.
In 1994 the federal court building on St. Croix was named after him.
Christian is the father of congressional Delegate Donna Christian-Christensen. He is also survived by his wife, Shirley, their daughter, Rebecca Christian, and son Adam Christian, granddaughters Rabiah and Karida Green, son-in-law Christian O. Christensen and daughter-in-law Vicky Christian.
Funeral arrangements are pending.